Nightmares
by Skovko
Summary: "Are you gonna be a good girl for daddy?" "No, daddy, no!" Scarlett is having nightmares and her boyfriend Brian doesn't know what to do about them since she doesn't tell him what they are about. His heart is breaking, the nightmares start happening every night, and they're about to take a trip to her family home.
1. No, daddy, no!

_"Are you gonna be a good girl for daddy?"_  
 _"No, daddy, no!"_

Scarlett sat up in bed. She was sweaty and the feeling of fear was strong. An arm wrapped around her waist and dragged her back down.

"It was just a nightmare, darling," her boyfriend Brian said.

He held her tight and kissed the top of her head. He was always so good to her and she was grateful that her nightmares hadn't scared him away.

Lately she had been having them more frequently. For the past week it had been every night. He had stopped asking a long time ago what they were about. She wanted to tell him, she really did, but certain things were just too hard to talk about. He had accepted that and instead just made sure always to be there for her and hold her tight whenever the nightmares took over.

She sighed and got out of bed. He watched her through the darkness.

"Come back to bed, darling," he said.  
"I'll be back in a minute. I just need something to drink," she lied.

He sighed as he watched her leave the room. He knew she wouldn't come back. She never did. She would stay up all night and look like crap in the morning from lack of sleep. He wasn't completely sure what the nightmares were about but he had a feeling. She sometimes talked in her sleep when the nightmares occurred and he didn't like at all what he was hearing.

 _"No, daddy, no!"_

He hated those words. He never told her that she would whisper, speak or sometimes even scream those words. He wondered what her father might have done but the thoughts alone hurt him too much. Somewhere he knew. Somewhere deep inside and it broke his heart.

If he was right in his suspicion, it made sense why the nightmares were starting to happen every night. They were about to take a trip to her childhood home. He had never met her family before even though they had been together for almost two years. She had never felt the need to go back home and introduce him to them. But now with her brother's 40 year old birthday happening tonight, they were going there.

He gave up trying to fall back asleep and walked out in the kitchen to her. She was already brewing coffee. She was sitting by the table, chewing on a fingernail. He walked over to her, wrapped his arms around her, pulled the finger out of her mouth and kissed her neck.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" He asked.  
"Yeah, I know. It was just a nightmare. Nothing to worry about," she answered.  
"You've been getting them a lot lately," he said.  
"No need to remind me," she said.

He sat down on the chair next to her, took her hands and looked her deep in the eyes.

"Don't push me away. No matter how bad it is, I won't go away. I promise," he said.  
"I know," was all she said.

She put her hand on his cheek and gave him a weak smile before standing up.

"I'm gonna go shower," she said and walked out of the kitchen.

She locked the bathroom door behind her. She didn't usually do that but she didn't want him to come in there this morning. She turned on the water and as soon as she felt it on her skin, she broke down. She sat on her knees under the warm water, sobbing into her hands. His words kept roaming in her head.

 _"Are you gonna be a good girl for daddy?"_


	2. Back home after 20 years

"So... how are you feeling about going back home?" Brian asked once they were on the road.  
"Weird," she answered truthfully.

He glanced over at her in the passenger seat. She was chewing on a nail again. He reached over and pulled her finger out of her mouth.

"Don't do that, darling," he said softly.  
"Sorry," she muttered.

She fumbled with the radio, switching around between the stations before shutting it off again with an annoying sound.

"There's never anything good," she hissed.  
"Relax darling," he said and gently patted her knee.  
"Easy for you to say," she mumbled.

He pulled over to the side of the road. She looked at him confused. He grabbed her hands.

"I'm here for you all the way through. You understand that, right?" He said.

She nodded. He leaned over and gave her a little kiss before pulling out on the road again.

"So your brother still lives with your father?" He asked after a short while.  
"Actually it's the other way around. He bought the farm from my father five years ago so technically my father lives with my brother," she answered.  
"And what kind of farm is it?" He asked.  
"Sheep farm," she answered before lowering her voice. "That's the only thing I miss. The sheep. So soft and friendly."

He chuckled a little.

"Anything else I need to know before we get there?" He asked.

 _"Come on, darling, last chance. Just tell me."_

"No," she answered.

He sighed but didn't push on with his questions. If she wasn't gonna tell him now, she probably never would.

"Wow, big place," he said as he pulled in.  
"Yeah, I know," she said as she looked at her childhood home.

Nothing had really changed.

"Who's that?" He asked as a man came walking towards their car.

"That's my brother Eric," she answered.

They stepped out of the car.

"Scarlett, so good to see you," Eric said and hugged her before reaching his hand towards Brian. "And you must be Brian."  
"Nice to meet you," Brian said and shook his hand.  
"I've prepared the guestroom for you. I would have given you your old room but I turned it into an office," Eric said.  
"It's alright," she said.  
"Daddy's somewhere on the neighbour's field picking corn for tonight but he'll be back soon," Eric said.

She just nodded and started walking towards the house. Brian grabbed their bagpack and followed her.

"Do we have time for a tour of this place?" He asked as he put the bag down on the bed in the guestroom.  
"Sure," she answered.

She showed him around the house first. She stopped in the kitchen and pointed at an old photograph hanging on the fridge.

"That's my mom," she said.  
"Wow, you look just like her. How old were you when she died?" He asked.  
"17," she answered.  
"You never told me exactly what happened," he said.  
"She was walking home when a truckdriver fell asleep behind the wheel and hit her. Killed her instantly," she said.  
"I'm sorry," he said.  
"Don't be. It was a very long time ago. We buried her a week later and the very next day I left this place and never came back," she said.  
"You haven't been back for 20 years?" He asked shocked.  
"No," she answered.  
"So you haven't seen your family for that long?" He asked.  
"I've seen Eric from time to time but not my father," she answered.

She walked out of the house before he could ask more questions and he followed her. She started showing him around on the property. He couldn't help but smile as she took him to the stables to see all the sheep.

"I've spent so many hours in here, you won't believe it," she said.  
"Why?" He asked.  
"Great hiding place. No one ever came to check in here," she answered.  
"What were you hiding from?" He asked.  
"All sorts of things," she said vaguely.

She turned back around with him following suit.

"What's that shed down there?" He asked and pointed.

He saw her face go white.

"We don't go down there. That's private," she said.

She hurried back towards the house. He had a feeling he had stepped on a line but he had no clue what it was.

"Wait, I didn't mean to upset you," he said and grabbed her hand.  
"You didn't. We just really should get ready for the party. The guests will be here any minute," she said.

"Is that my new son in law?" A voice shouted.

She got stiff as a board and then slowly turned around.

"Scarlett, honey, you're back home," her father said.

He walked over to hug her but she sidestepped him. He didn't say anything but instead reached his hand towards Brian.

"So you picked a man with long hair. I know you grew up in the country but we weren't that hillbilly," he chuckled.  
"Shut up," she hissed.  
"Come on, honey, don't be like that. Haven't you missed your old man?" He asked.

 _"No, daddy, no!"_

"You're really not gonna give me a hug?" He asked.

 _"NO, DADDY, NO!"_

They all turned their heads as someone honked the horn of their car. The first guests had arrived. She sighed in relief and hurried towards the house. Brian followed close behind. So many things he wanted to know even more now but he knew he couldn't ask. Not now, not when she was upset like this. He could only do what he always did - be there for her. As they reached the guestroom, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down on the bed. For a while they just sat like that in silence until she was finally ready to go back outside again.


	3. Pictures and fire

She was tossing and turning in her sleep and it woke up Brian. The party was long over and it was early morning.

"Scarlett," he said as he gently tried to shake her awake, feeling how the tank top she slept in was wet of sweat.  
"No, daddy, no," she whispered.  
"Wake up," he said louder and shook her again.  
"No!" She screamed as she woke up and sat up in bed.

"Ssh, it's just a nightmare," he said as he wrapped his arms around her.

She looked around, confused to where she was.

"We're back home at the farm. Your brother's birthday, remember?" He talked to her softly.

It all came back to her quickly. She pushed his arms away and got out of bed.

"Don't go," he said.

She didn't answer. She grabbed her jeans and put them on.

"Scarlett..." He said but she opened the door and walked out of it.  
"For fuck's sake," he growled as he got out of bed.

He put on his jeans but didn't care to find a shirt. He had to go after her before she disappeared on this big farm.

He caught sight of her as he got out of the house. She was walking fast and he took off running after her. She was heading towards the shed that had her upset the day before.

"Scarlett, wait!" He yelled.

She didn't stop though. She opened the door to the shed and walked inside. He ran to it and went inside as well. It looked like a typical man place with tools and other stuff. She took the rifle down from the wall.

"Would you believe that I'm actually a great shooter?" She asked as she loaded the gun.  
"Really?" He asked back.  
"Yeah, my father taught me. He wanted me to go hunting with him. I learned to shoot bottles but I refused to take the life of an innocent animal," she said as she put the rifle up against the wall.

She looked around the things in there. He walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist.

"Please, Scarlett, for once just talk to me," he begged.  
"About what?" She asked.  
"You know what. The nightmares, you running off like that, everything," he answered.  
"There's nothing to tell," she said as she pushed his arms away.  
"I won't stop loving you no matter what it is," he said.

She stopped but didn't turn around.

"He used to take me out here..." She started in a low tone but stopped herself before finishing the sentence.  
"Who did?" He asked.  
"It doesn't matter," she said.  
"God damn it," he muttered and kicked a metal box under the table in frustration.

The box opened from the kick and at first he thought he had broken it. He bowed down in his knees to close it again when he noticed a stack of pictures. It was her as a child. He took out the stack, smiling at how sweet she was standing on a beach in a bathing suit.

He stood up again while slowly going through the pictures.

"Hey look, it's pictures of you," he said.

She turned around and looked at him.

"You were so sweet," he said, still going through them.

Suddenly his facial expression completely changed to a look of horror and he dropped all the pictures on the ground. She looked down at them all spread out. There she was, naked, afraid, abused. On some pictures she was alone, on others her father was too.

"Holy shit," he whispered as he looked down on them again.

He looked up again just to find her gone along with the rifle.

"No, no, no!" He yelled as he ran as fast as he could out of the shed.

She was running further ahead with the rifle in her hand.

"Scarlett, stop!" He yelled as he was running after her.

She reached the house and ran inside with him following suit. She ran to her father's room screaming. Her father woke up just to find himself staring straight into the rifle.

"What are you doing, honey?" He asked in a scared tone.

Brian finally reached the room as well.

"Don't do it, Scarlett. He's not worth it," he tried pleading with her.  
She didn't answer him. She just kept pointing the rifle at her father.  
"Are you gonna be a good girl for daddy?" She asked mockingly.  
"What is this all about?" He asked back.  
"Don't pretend like you don't know. Don't pretend like it never happened. I wanna hear you speak the truth," she sneered.  
"What never happened? What are you talking about, honey?" He asked.  
"No! Don't fucking lie!" She screamed.

He looked at Brian for help.

"I don't know what she's talking about," he tried.  
"Don't fucking bullshit her or me. I found the pictures in your shed," Brian sneered at him, starting to feel really angry.

Her father sighed and hung his head.

"Say it!" She screamed.  
"You loved me. I loved you. What we did was a thing of love," her father said.  
"Oh, hell no!" Brian yelled.

He couldn't hold his anger in any longer and he threw a punch into the face of her father. They both heard the loud crack as the nose broke.

"You are a sick man that deserves to be wiped off the face of this earth," Brian spat.  
"Brian, move!" She said in a cold tone.

He turned around and looked at her. He gently put his hand in the rifle, making her lower it.

"No, darling. I won't let you do it. I'll lose you if I do," he said.

Her tears started flowing. He walked over to her and put his arms around her.

"I can't lose you. I love you too much," he said in a soft tone as he led her out of her father's room.

Once outside she finally let go of the rifle and it dropped to the ground. She looked down at the shed.

"No one must ever see those pictures," she whispered as she looked at him with begging eyes.  
"I know what to do," he said.

She watched him walk over to his car and open the trunk. He took out the small tank of gasoline he always kept as a back up in the trunk. He walked back to her and took her hand. Without a word he led her back into the shed. He handed her the tank. She nodded and poured the gasoline over the pictures first and then left a trail towards the door. Once outside he handed her his zippo lighter.

For a few seconds she stood with it in her hands, looking at the shed she hated so much.

"Torch the place. Cleanse your soul," he said.

She lit it and threw it inside the shed. He took her hand and walked backwards with her as they watched the shed burn.

"Okay, let's go," he said after a while and started walking towards the car.  
"But, the fire..." She said.  
"...Will burn out on its own. There's nothing near by it can catch on to," he finished the sentence.

She nodded and followed him.

"Wait here while I get the bagpack," he said as they reached the car.

He went back into the house and came out shortly after with the bag. They got into the car.

"When we get home, I want you to tell me everything, okay? I won't leave you or stop loving you no matter what. It's you and me till the end, darling," he said.  
"Okay," was all she could say.

He started the car and they drove off.


End file.
